nay, nay, nay, a million fucking times nay.

He's a better actor than most:
The Fisher King
Insomnia
One Hour Photo
Law & Order: SVU
World's Greatest Dad

Who cares if he's funny.

For the most part his "comedic rants" annoy me to no end just like Jim Carrey; and whenever I hear he's going to be on a Talk show, I make a point of avoiding that talk show.

However, I actually like Robin when he's toned down in comedy films or playing dramatic roles.

He was pretty good in films like "What dreams May Come", "Insomnia", "The World According to Garp", and "One Hour Photo". I also gave him a pass in the comedy "RV" since he was toned down and because I just liked the movie overall and he happened to be good in it.

I'll say yay. I've avoided the movies of his I thought I wouldn't like, so maybe my opinion doesn't matter too much with respect of the thread topic. I don't have to like all of his movies, but I would like him to be good in the movies I decided to go see/rent. For example, I have no intention in seeing Old Dogs, but I would be interested in seeing him in World's Greatest Dad. If it's a comedy that actually looks funny, I might go see it, but the last comedy I saw of his in the theaters was The Birdcage.

This. Times a million.

It's funny, the reason I liked him in this was because he basically played the, no pun, Straight man to Nathan Lanes character. In other words Robin was toned down just the way I like him.

Yay. He does a few crappy movies in a row..then comes out with something good (like Insomnia/One Hour Photo)

I like him for the most part.

I'll join those nays. Plus, some of his better reviewed movies are on my sh*t list, too. What Dreams May Come - closest I've come to walking out of the theater. He annoyed the hell out of me in The Fisher King, etc. etc. I'll agree to Insomnia and One Hour Photo as being among his highlights, but his still batting about .150 in my book.

Definitely not "a better actor than most."

Nay.

Looking at the IMDB it looks like Toys is the one that turned me against him. I saw most of his movies before that & only one after- What Dreams May Come.

Most of his comedies made since Toys look irritating instead of funny, including Old Dogs.

These are the things he's in that I did like:

The World According To Garp (1982)
"Faerie Tale Theatre" The Tale Of The Frog Prince (1982)
Moscow On The Hudson (1984)
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen (1988)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Dead Again (1991)
Shakes The Clown (1991)
The Fisher King (1991)
Aladdin (1992)
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
What Dreams May Come (1998)

I only really like the music & comedy parts of Good Morning, Vietnam.

I can't stand Robin Williams.

probably the only DVD i want with him on it is Dead Poet Society. Still looking to find that DVD for cheap.

I always found The Birdcage to be funny. While Williams and Lane were supposed to provide the big laughs, I found Gene Hackmans character hilarious. Taken from imdb quotes section, Here is Hackman finding out about his business partners death.

Senator Kevin Keeley: I'm so glad I got on Jackson's bandwagon instead of Dole. Dole is just too, too...
Louise Keeley: Dark.
Senator Kevin Keeley: Well, I was gonna say liberal, but he's dark too.
Senator Kevin Keeley: Oh, I got to fire this woman. Uh, Miss Porter, page two, second paragraph, it's "porno", not "pronto".
[on the phone]
Senator Kevin Keeley: Hello, Ben. Ready for what? WHAT?
Louise Keeley: What's the matter, Kevin?
Senator Kevin Keeley: Jackson's dead.
Louise Keeley: Oh my God!
Senator Kevin Keeley: He died in bed? Whose bed? A prostitute?
Louise Keeley: No!
Senator Kevin Keeley: A minor? And black?
Louise Keeley: What?
Senator Kevin Keeley: I don't believe this! I don't FUCKING believe this!
Senator Kevin Keeley: Louise, I'm the Vice President of the Coalition for Moral Order! My co-founder has just died in the bed of an underage black whore!

This is the only way I can enjoy his work. When he's not funny.

I hate his comedies with the exception of something like Moscow on the Hudson or World's Greatest Dad. I like him in psychotic roles. He has those down to a science.

Any comedy he's in I can't stand. Basically any role he does against the norm is the only way I'll sit through a movie of his.

Yay, but please move to music talk

I think, upon reflection, it was Mrs. Doubtfire that was my turning point. I absolutely despise that film. I'm willing to play along with the premise, but even the Stooges didn't suspend disbelief that much just to accommodate a gag. That scene where he's changing personae while the social worker is in his apartment just lights me up.

Someone mentioned his 2002 live DVD/CD release, and I have to confess I didn't even finish watching it. It sounded like Karl Rove had funded the entire thing and asked Williams to go out and sell the neo-conservative agenda as humorous. It's cool with me that he uses his stage time to spout off about things he thinks/cares about even when I disagree with him, but I can only take so many anti-French jokes before I just want someone to make the conversation go somewhere interesting.

Guess my opinion echoes most of what I'm seeing in this thread. Williams' movies are very much hit or miss with me. I really like certain ones and can't stand a few others.

Toys is the #1 worst movie I have ever seen. No exaggeration, it's #1 by a mile.

When he's bad, he's absolutely awful. As others have said, when he does that manic stream of consciousness 'comedy', it fails most of the time.

That said, I do like Dead Poets Society, Good Morning Vietnam, & Mrs. Doubtfire. And The World According to Garp is one of my favorite comedies. He was the weakest part of Good Will Hunting.
I liked Mork & Mindy, but I was a kid. I can't imagine it would be watchable today.

He's made so much garbage that I can't help but dislike him.

I love him as a comedian and an actor.

Especially when he plays a psychotic bad guy.

Robin's shtick got old a LONG time ago. He's done some great work in films (Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting), but he's like nails on a chalk board when he's himself. It's like "Jesus, man, just CHILL already."

"Toys" is a very odd movie. The plot is terrible, but the surreal imagery is fantastic.

I really think there us a good movie inside there somewhere, perhaps focusing on the son coming to terms with the loss of his eccentric toymaker father, or his struggle to keep the company going.

But that whole military thing in the actual movie was just embarrassingly bad.



And I don't have any problems with Robin Williams, but I do think he's not as funny as he used to be.

Yup, it's a great movie to look at, but stupid crap like the SeaSwine ruin it. I loved the house in the middle of the cornfield or the awesome MTV video with Dali-esque imagery.

I like Robin Williams when he's subdued as he is in Popeye, Insomnia, or Bicentennial Man. But Rainbow Fuckin-Randolph was such a great performance: "I'm going on safari motherfucker! Sa-faaaa-rrriiii!"

He is loved by Hollywood though. He was given the Oscar over Burt Reynolds.

He did some nice work in one of my favorite Homicide: Life on the Streets episodes.

<embed width="320" height="240" src="http://www.spike.com/efp" quality="high" bgcolor="000000" name="efp" align="middle" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="flvbaseclip=2951318" allowfullscreen="true"> </embed>